


Heart of White

by Iguessnotthendearie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Please Don't Hate Me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-03 08:38:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4094317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iguessnotthendearie/pseuds/Iguessnotthendearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been four weeks since Rumple became unconscious under the Apprentice...finally Belle may have a way to save him, but magic always comes with a price.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic ever... I hope you guys like it, I appreciate any (constructive) criticism and would love to know what you guys think, I'll update if you guys enjoy:)

Heat. 

That's all that Belle felt. Heat. The shop was filled with the musty scent of it, and sweat trickled down her brow as she sat on the edge of the cot, fanning herself. She wore a short skirt and thin blouse; it was practical for the high temperature. She knew that perhaps it was bad for many of the items in the shop to be in this kind of heat, so she had moved some to their house, but she didn't concern herself too much over it. All that really mattered was her husband.

Rumple. She lightly held his hand as she sat on the side of his cot in the back room of the shop; she had removed his tie and shoes but that was all. After she had managed to get him on the cot (which was not an easy task, even if Rumple was not a large man), she discovered that he was extremely cold to the touch. She opted out of removing his suit jacket, and went directly to the cupboard for the blankets, putting all five over her comatose husband. She turned the heat all the way up in the shop. Yet Rumple stayed as cold as ever, still never moving yet breathing steadily. 

Dr. Whale graciously came by once a week to check on him. Check his heartbeat ("slow but steady") and check his temperature ("rather low but not dangerously so"). She didn't feel comfortable with moving him to the hospital, when... or if he woke up, she didn't want him to be someplace unfamiliar. She also did not want other people to be around at all times. She just wanted them to be alone, in the comfort of the shop. She didn't need the so called "heroes" to come along, asking for some favor without a care in the world that her true love may never wake up. The front door of the shop was locked up tight, and was only opened for the doctor.

So Belle was left alone to her thoughts. Most times she sat on the edge of her cot, which was moved in by the help of Archie and set up right near Rumple's; close enough that her knees touched his small bed when she sat on the edge of it. She sat there, holding the chipped cup, which she often placed her wedding ring in, twirling it around, listening the the dull clinking as the small gold band circled around the porcelain. She would then place the cup down, and grab Rumple's hand, tears slipping down her cheeks despite it already having been four weeks since the Apprentice had put the spell on him. And it was indeed a spell, not a curse. Belle found that out quickly, as when everyone left the shop to witness Emma become the Dark One, she lay by Rumple's side, leaning over him, crying softly. She had to try. She had to. But what if it didn't work? What if he wasn't her true love anymore? So she did try. She tried until her lips became chapped and tears flowed endlessly down her pale cheeks, to no avail.

These thoughts haunted Belle even four weeks later. The guilt of what she had done was heavy on her heart at all times, like an iron chain. Of course she hadn't known about his heart, but maybe if she had persuaded him to be more open with her...

Reflecting on the couple of weeks that they were married, practically right after his captivity with Zelena, she had seen the signs. Sure, he had been holding Hook's heart and tricked her into thinking the dagger was real, but she was oblivious to the signs that showed WHY he did these things. Why he was so desperate to cleave himself from the dagger. Looking back on it, there were so many signs that showed that Rumple was suffering more than he let on. The nights when he would wake up suddenly, startling her from a deep sleep, just to brush it off as a nightmare and telling her not to worry. Yet the next morning it was obvious that he had barely slept at all after that. Or the way that he rarely seemed to talk about what had happened, and was constantly holding on to his power. He had kept so much inside, after dying, coming back to life, and spending a whole year locked up by Zelena with Baelfire in his head, and later his beloved son died in his arms. 

Yet he kept his walls up. Feigned happiness for Belle's sake. She brushed tears from her eyes as she squeezed his hand. His heart was darkening even as she had been still reeling over the excitement of their new marriage. And if she had never sent him over the town line...

Belle choked out another sob. She pressed his limp hand to her cheek, closing her eyes and trying to imagine what it had been like for him, to be all alone out in the world, losing his humanity bit by bit. And everyone he had ever known, even his own wife, had abandoned him. Belle was heartbroken for the man beside her.

The knock at the door was quite unexpected. Dr. Whale had come by yesterday, and the sign said closed, as it had for the past month. Belle wiped her face and laid Rumple's hand lightly down on his chest. She decided to not put her heels on, not sure if she wanted this person to know that she had heard or not yet. 

She tip toed to the door, careful not to step on the several creaky floorboards. Peeping between the certain and through to the window, she looked to see Henry staring right back at her. He waved urgently. Wiping her face one last time, she slipped through the curtain towards the door.

If Henry wasn't her grandson, Belle probably wouldn't have let him in. Everyone else in his family had left her feeling betrayed. Regina had tricked her and taken her heart, causing Rumple even more pain. None of them truly seemed to care. But Henry was only a child. She couldn't hold his family's actions against him. 

He burst inside the moment she opened the door, a large book in the crook of his arm But it wasn't his usual storybook; it was smaller, yet thicker. She followed him as he lay it open across the dusty counter. He seemed to want to get down to business.

"Belle! Sorry it took me so long, Emma hasn't shown up yet, it's been so long... We don't know where she could be, we need to find Merlin or something..." Henry rambled on quickly, and Belle felt sorry for the boy for losing his mother, but knew that Emma may just not want to be found... The darkness that took over a persons heart was a hard thing to understand; this she knew better than anyone.

"Henry, slow down, I'm sorry about Emma. Tell me, what is this book?" She wanted to get right down to business. 

"Oh, yeah. It's- Gosh, Belle, it's blazing in here." Henry quickly shed his coat. 

"Oh, sorry," Belle replied, waving a hand towards the back room, "Rumple is freezing cold, I'm trying to keep him warm, but it doesn't seem to be working." Her throat closed up a bit and she looked down.

Henry's eyes got wide, and he gasped. "So I'm right! David and Mary Margaret, they said that the Apprentice put him under some sort of spell. I didn't know anything about it but yesterday," he pointed to the open page in the book, "I found my mom's spell book and started to go through it, hoping to maybe find something to help find my mom, but I kept an eye open to maybe help grandpa too.. And I found this."

Belle came to his side and looked at where his finger was pointing. It described a spell to put someone in an unconscious state where their body would pretty much freeze; it would allow them to love, but would keep them frozen in the state that they had been left in. And at the very bottom... was a way to reverse it.

"Henry," Belle gaped, picking up the book, "I think you found the spell to reverse what happened to Rumple!" She quickly scurried to the back, Henry following in her wake. She didn't know how to perform magic, but she could read a spell from a book; Rumple had had her do it before to protect the town. She just had to believe in herself and their love. And in Rumple... the apprentice had said that the strength had to be there. Belle knew that it was. He had fought off the darkness for so long, just to find his son; he had loved her despite the monster fighting him inside. She skimmed the rest of the page, looking to see if there were any side effects of the spell. She didn't want it to go wrong and hurt him. 

"Be careful Belle. You can do it, I know you can!" Henry stood by Belle's side as she took a deep breathe and readied herself to recite the spell she thought of Rumple and how much she loved him. And she began to recite the words.

It took a whole minute to finish. She ended, feeling something strangely relaxing flood her veins and then flow out slowly. She stared hard at her husband, willing him to wake up. Henry and her both stared for fifteen seconds with bated breaths. 

Rumple gasped suddenly, sitting up sharply in the cot. He looked around quickly, finding Belle's eyes.she dropped the book and ran to his side before either of them could blink, a thousand feelings welling up inside her all at once. Excitement, relief, happiness pain, regret, betrayal; but most of all, love. She hugged him, and he stiffened suddenly in her grasp. She pulled back, grabbing his face in her hands. He jerked back suddenly, moving his legs off the cot to stand up. He looked confused and alarmed. 

"Rumplestiltskin!" Belle said pleadingly, hoping he was just flustered from being awoken so suddenly after such a long time. "You're back! I love you. I love you." 

He looked at her from where he was seated in his coy, and then finally spoke.

"Who's Rumplestiltskin?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for taking so long, will definitely be better with updating this time around. Thank you for the comments and kudos on the first chapter:)

“Who’s Rumplestiltskin?”

Looking around at his surroundings, Mr. Gold soon realized that he was in his shop, and more importantly, this woman, someone he didn’t know nor had he ever seen before, was touching his face, and almost lovingly at that. It was unnerving. Jerking away quickly, he glanced around for his cane, ready to make an escape. But no, this was his shop. She was intruding. Not only that, but she seemed to think that he was some fairytale imp.

“What do you think you’re doing in my shop?” he said aggressively yet smoothly. He would not let on that this woman was confusing him and even scaring him with the desperate and loving look on her face. 

“No-please, Rumple, it’s me, Belle.” She shifted back a little, giving him some space, yet never took her eyes off him. “The Apprentice got the darkness out. He put you under some spell and then Henry,” she finally turned around and that was when he noticed that someone else was in the room, “found a spell to break it. The Apprentice had said it might be hard to come back, that the way back to the man you were wouldn’t be easy, but-“

Mr. Gold tuned her out, still looking at Henry, and becoming utterly confused. The mayor’s son did not look ten years old as he had a few days ago; or however long it was since he had passed out. This boy was obviously a teenager. He was staring back at him calculatingly, clutching an old book in his arms. The last thing that Mr. Gold had remembered before collapsing was that he was making his rounds for rent… Granny’s had been his last stop, as her recalled, but it was a blur from here. All he could see in the last moments was the back of a blonde head.

“-and look, here’s your cane if you’d like, I figured you might need it-“ snapping his head back to the woman quickly at the mention of his cane, Gold found that she was leaning towards the edge of the cot to grab the cane that was leaning on the small bed. Mr. Gold grabbed it quickly, standing up immediately, before realizing that this was a huge mistake. His head started spinning, and the room seemed to tilt from side to side. That woman (Belle, was it?) was soon gripping his elbow firmly, guiding him back down to sit on the side of the cot once more. Henry was soon by his side as well. The man felt utterly helpless and weak. He would have to keep the upper hand a different way now. Resorting to the tactic of stalling, he began to ask the many questions that had been building up in his head throughout the whole ordeal, even as the strange woman fussed over his sudden stumble. 

“I’m fine I’m fine,” he jabbed, brushing her off. She didn’t seemed so sure… was she crying? This woman really was mad… “I would appreciate it if you answered some of my questions. First of all, who are you? And what are you doing here? What am I doing here?” He asked, referring to the cot. 

She took a shuttering breath, moving slowly towards the cot, before she seemed to think better of it and backed away next to the rapidly aged Henry. “I’m… Belle. Belle…” she seemed to be thinking, as if she didn’t know her own last name, or she was thinking of something to make up. Eventually she seemed to come to a decision and finished, “French. Belle French. And you know Henry, of course. I’m sorry, Mr. Gold, but we were just- you were out cold for… a really long time.” Tears started to run down her pale cheeks, and for the first time, Mr. Gold really saw her, and looked at her. The woman, mad or not, was beautiful; her skin was a smooth milky white, and although she was considerably shorter than him, the way she held her herself, even through her supposed sadness, radiated strength. Her accent was odd and out of place for someone in Storybrooke, but was still strangely comforting and familiar, like something from a dream. But her eyes are what held the pawn shop owner’s attention; somehow, as if by magic, someone had seemed to have trapped the sky itself in them. They were mesmerizing. He shook himself out of his trance; he had to stay alert to be able to have the advantage in this situation. 

“French… as in the Moe French? Are you two related?” Gold scooted forward on his cot, tightening his grip on the cane. “Ms. French, if this is some way of convincing me to forgive his major debt to me, I can assure you, dearie, that is not going to work on me. I thank you for your assistance, but I am quite all right now, and it would take much for than that for me to allow such a large sum of money to be forgotten about. That’s not the way I deal.” Keeping his eyes on Belle, he watched as she wiped her eyes quietly. She seemed to be listening to his words, yet reacting in a way that didn’t seem to relate to what he was saying. She should have been angry that her plan didn’t work; that after helping the passed out Mr. Gold back home, or possibly just being in the right place at the right time, she could amend her father’s problem by playing the role of the good Samaritan. The notion itself made Gold’s insides tense up in anger.

“Yes, Rump- Mr. Gold. I’m Moe French’s daughter, but it’s nothing like that. You just- well it’s quite a long story really, but perhaps for another time when you’re feeling better…” Gold interjected quickly.

“I’m fine Ms. French. Seeing as either way I’m not going to forgive your fathers debt, let’s move on. Now another matter is that of Mayor Mill’s boy.” He turned a bit to face Henry, not missing the alarmed glance he sent the obviously stressed Ms. French’s way.” Why are you so-” but he never got a chance to finish. There was a loud knocking on the door, and then a loud thud. Mr. Gold started and moved to stand up again, but Ms. French pressed him down again. In defiance he burst back up, and although he felt a bit wobbly, it was better than last time. Ignoring Belle’s pretests, he limped quickly from the back room to the front of his shop, just to find himself face to face with a disgruntled Mayor Mills… who seemed to have gotten hair extensions. How long had he been out?

Upon seeing him, Regina’s eyes grew twice in size. “Gold?! How-” She stopped as Henry and Belle emerged from the curtains that led into the back room, and breathed out a large sigh of relief. “Oh, Henry, there you are. What are you doing here?” Glancing down, her relief soon turned to anger, “And with my spell book?” 

“Now why do I keep hearing about fairy tales and spells?! I’ll have no more of this nonsense. I would kindly ask that you all leave, now!”

Mayor Mills stared at him as if he was the crazy one there. Before she could say anything back, Henry came over and grabbed her arms, pulling her towards the door in a hasty retreat. “Come on, mom, let’s go. We can talk later.” Regina left with her son, glancing back every few steps in confusion and frustration. “I’ll be back, Gold, we need your help. This Emma problem is your fault, and you’re going to help fix it. I don’t care how much… persuasion it takes.”

Before Mr. Gold could even react to her seemingly nonsense words, Belle was speeding past him to catch Regina before she made it out the door. Henry was out of earshot at this point, not having heard his mother’s threats, trying to beckon her from across the street. 

“Now you listen here. You and the so called heroes will leave us in peace. We’re done helping you. I’m sorry about Emma, truly I am, but right now I need to put Rumple first. I trust you won’t bother us again, or else Robin or Henry will have to hear about the… heart incident. Now go.”

Gold could practically see Ms. French’s head steaming as the Mayor gave her a look that could kill. Belle returned it with her own icy stare. Too confused to even say anything, Gold just stood there, eyes moving back and forth between to two women. Eventually the staring match ended, and Regina stalked away angrily.

“Now what was that about? Who’s Emma?” He began to get even more aggravated as Belle shut the door, and to his dismay, she stayed in the shop. 

The woman moved over to him slowly, looking at him in a way that nobody ever had before, and he was sure of that. Although he didn’t remember much of his past; in fact, he couldn’t recall any of it if he truly tried; he knew that there wasn’t love in it, and somehow this woman was looking at him as no woman should. He was the town monster. This was trick. It had to be.

“Go. Everyone here is crazy. Especially you. Either that or this isn’t real. This can’t be real. Go, or I’ll call Sheriff Graham and allow him to take care of you. It may do you some good to stay in the asylum for a few days.” He turned and stalked away from the girl, going behind the counter to put something between them. “And it’s blazing in here. If any of my items are damaged by this blasted heat, I’ll be adding it to your father’s already growing debt, dearie.”

Belle stared at him for a long moment, desperation and frustration both evident on her features. She came up directly to the counter and leaned in as close as she could to the shop owner, close enough that he could smell her perfume. Finally seeming to come to a decision, she said, “I will find a way to bring you back Rumplestiltskin, I promise.” before turning away and walking out the door, wiping her eyes as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took me so long because I at first wrote it in Belle's perspective and then Gold's and decided to use it from Gold's this time around.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos:)

“One more time Mama! Please?” Belle moved up closer to her mother’s armchair, spreading out her nightdress as she situated herself better on the ground. 

Colette smiled at her little four year old. “Ok honey, one more time but then you have to go to bed.” She opened the old book again. “Once upon a time…”

She continued with the story, which is filled with adventure and a tale about love. Belle knew almost every page word by word. At last she finished, with Belle still hanging on to every word even as her eyes started to droop. 

Colette closed the book, and set it on the chair as she got up. Wrapping her sleepy daughter up in her arms, she carried her over to where Belle’s elegant four poster bed was, pushed aside the crimson curtains to lay her down gently, placing her head on the pillow. “Goodnight, my beautiful Belle. I love you.” She leaned down and kissed her softly on the head, and was about to leave when she heard Belle whisper, “Mama?”

Colette settled back down on the side of the bed. “Yes, my darling?”

“Why did the prince do all of that for the princess? He had thought that she loved someone else, yet he fought off the dragon, and crossed the bridge with the trolls, just to rescue her from the tower. Why did he do that? He almost died.”

Smiling at her daughter’s attentiveness, Colette replied, “Because he loved her. And love is about wanting to make the person that you love happy. Even if it’s was not with him. And one day, my Belle, you will find someone that will make you happy, just like me and your father.”

“How will I know? How will I know when I meet that person?” Belle rested up on her elbow, watching her mother as she chuckled and admired her daughter that was much wiser than her years. 

“Usually you don’t, and love is never what it seems. Remember that my dear.”

“I will Mama. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Belle.” 

Clutching her arms against the cold, or perhaps just to hold herself together until she got to the library, Belle walked away from the shop with silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Her true love had been right in front of her face, after months of never truly being with, after his banishment and all… and he wanted her to leave. And so she did. She wasn’t sure if he was truly happy where she left him, but she did know that being there made him unhappy. But she made him a promise that she intended to keep. She would bring him back one way or another. 

The library doors were locked, and as she grabbed to keys out of her pocket, she turned back towards the shop. She saw Rumplestiltskin- or in this case, Mr. Gold looking through shop records, looking very confused. Of course, as all of the records from the last couple months were written by her, his confusion was justified. Before he could look up and catch her staring, she slowly sank into the shadows of the library’s opening. Once inside, she slid to the ground and sat back against the now closed door. The library was a complete mess as a result of her desperate searching as she sought for a cure to wake Rumple up. And now she would need to start over again. She had more books back at the house, but it was too dangerous to go back there with an on-edge Mr. Gold around. No, she would have to stay in the apartment above the library tonight. 

To avoid getting up and marching back the shop as she desperately wanted to do, Belle thought of her mother, and about the lesson about love that she had taught her long ago. She was doing her best to heed those words now. Belle often thought about what her mother would have thought of Rumplestiltskin. Her mother had always been able to see the best in people, as Belle did. Before the last few months, Belle thought this was a good thing; a strong attribute. But now it just felt like a weakness. She’d been taken advantage of countless times by the “heroes”, and she was finally beginning to realize it. Even Killian Jones, who had tried to find and kill Rumple for centuries, had somehow become someone that she believed she could trust. How could she have been so blind?

And she had forgiven Regina as well. Standing up to her had felt good, but she knew that it was already too late. She had put her defenses down and Evil Queen had taken advantage of her. Because of her carelessness and extremely forgiving nature, Rumple had almost died. 

But now she needed Regina again. Belle did not know why Rumple had gone back to his cursed self, but she knew who had created his cursed persona of Mr. Gold. Regina had crafted the lives of every single person in Storybrooke that lasted for 28 years. Regina would know all about Mr. Gold, and possibly how to bring back Rumple’s memories. Of course, Belle knew of True Loves Kiss, but her and Rumple had kissed when she was Lacey tons of times and the curse had never broken; Rumple and Belle were each other’s True Love’s, and nothing they did could change that.

There was also the way that Belle had gotten her memories back, which was with the potion from Blue. Belle was almost positive she wouldn’t have any desire to help Rumple after he trapped the fairies in a hat in a desperate plight to cleave himself from the dagger. Blue would be a last resort.

The sun was beginning to set, and although the sky was signifying the end of the day, Storybrooke was alive as Belle stood up and looked out the window, wiping her eyes. She wanted to start as soon as possible. She jogged as quickly as possible to the apartment above the library that was nearly empty now that no one lived there, and grabbed a coat form the nearly empty closet. Pulling the hood up around her, she stopped by the small bathroom and checked herself in the mirror. Her eyes were still puffy, but most of her face was in shadow anyways. Locking the door behind her, she decided to check Granny’s in her search for Regina first. That seemed to be the hero’s usual meeting place. 

It turned out to be a good choice. Belle glanced in to find Regina sitting at a booth next to Robin, while Mary Margaret and David sat across from them, and Hook had pulled up a chair, all four pouring over many different books. Henry seemed to have been put at the bar, as Ruby talked to him nonstop, trying to keep his attention until the heroes were finished their meeting. Belle wished it was just Regina, but it would have to do. She would have to march in there, demand the information the she was seeking, and leave. She and Regina had made threats to each other just hours before, and she was sticking to what she had said before. If Regina gave her a hard time, Robin was going to hear about what she had done. Belle didn’t want to be resorted to blackmail, but at least she wasn’t taking anyone’s heart. She had to do this for Rumple. Although she held her head up high as she entered the shop, she felt utterly pathetic. Everyone looked up when she entered, except the table with the huddled heroes. Ignoring everyone else, Belle went straight to the table.

Finally Regina and Robin looked up followed by the rest of them. Hook rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Something flashed in Regina’s eyes-was it worry?- before a look of disgust and smugness filled her features. “What are you doing here? I thought we had an agreement.”

Belle took a deep breath. “We did. But I have a proposition. She turned to David and Mary Margaret, and then scanned the books in front of them, mostly about dark curses and powerful sorcerers and Camelot, and back to Regina. “I can help you. With all this, I mean. I used to have a book about the dark one in my possession, but Rumple hid it away. I could find it I’m sure, it will help you to find Emma.”

David and Mary Margaret looked at each other hopefully, and Belle’s heart seized up at the sight of the two desperate parents. The pain and anguish in their eyes was so similar to Rumple’s when he lost Bae… Belle knew that she owed them nothing, but no parent should have to go through that. 

“And what do you want in return?” Regina snapped her out of her thoughts. 

“I need to get Rumple back. He remembers nothing of his old self, only Mr. Gold’s memories are in his head. There must be a way to fix it. Not only that, but if we can get Rumple back, he could help us with the Emma situation as well.”

Killian finally spoke up. “Yes, but how do we know the Crocodile will help us? He tried to make Emma go dark, remember? This is all his fault.”

Belle sighed. “He only did what he thought was best. You knew that he was dying and did nothing about it, outing everyone at risk. You would have had blood on your hands, Killian, and you should know that even if this deal is agreed upon, I still don’t trust you.” Belle turned to all five of them now. “I made a big sacrifice by sending my husband over the town line. And now I need your help. If you won’t do it for me, do it for Emma.”

Mary Margaret looked at Regina. “Is it even possible? To get his memories back without Emma?”

Sighing, Regina looked at Belle, her eyes surprisingly softening slightly, and said, “Possibly. It won’t be easy. I’m not familiar with the potion used, and even if I did learn it, it would take too long to prepare. I don’t know if we have that much time.” Robin grasped her hand as she continued. “We can meet at the library tomorrow at noon to discuss the next plan of action.”

Belle relaxed her shoulders and pulled her hood down, forgetting that she even had it on. “So we have a deal?”

“We do.” Regina nodded along with the others, accept for Hook. It would have to do. Belle turned to walk out, but Regina stopped her, yelling “Belle!” right as she was about to leave. 

“Yes?”

Regina was getting out of the booth and walking up to her.

“Keep an eye on Gold. It’s been a while since he’s been his cursed self and… I don’t know how that’s going to work. The curse keeps them at a constant personality and… physical appearance. Since it’s been so long, I wouldn’t be surprised if… the sudden change made him ill. However you can, make sure he’s ok.”

Even though Belle knew that this was part of their deal, she still greatly appreciated Regina’s gesture. “Thank you, Regina. I will.” And with that she put up her hood and walked out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so long this time around:( the next update is coming much sooner. Again, thank you all for all the comments and kudos!

So he was back. Word travelled fast in the small town of Storybrooke. Of course, no one dared to actually approach the former Dark One. They just caught glimpses in the shop window; polishing items, moving around readjusting things, flipping through his ledger. It seemed as though he was minding his own business and giving them a break, which was something they had not experienced since their cursed lives, when the cursed persona of Mr. Gold only really was seen out of his old pawn shop in order to collect rent.

But Moe French was no longer the cowardly flower shop owner who was constantly bullied by the cruel Mr. Gold. He was the Lord of Avonlea, even if he was not back there in the Enchanted Forest. As he strode over to the shop shortly after he heard that Rumplestiltskin was awake, he reflected on his many dealings with the man in the past thirty years of his life. He had lost his daughter to the beast, and then the Dark One had somehow made her fall in love with him. Despite the near death experience that Gold had put him through at his cabin, his beautiful Belle had caused him to come around enough to give his blessing and even to come to the wedding, where he was almost convinced of their love. But like he had warned Belle before, the Dark One had let her down. 

When the town had finally been rid of him as a result of his daughter’s bravery, Moe thought that for sure this was a new beginning for her. Will had seemed to be a great guy, with certainly no history of sweeping off young women to be their slaves in their castle. But then Rumplestiltskin had come back and tried to change everything- and well, the rest was all speculation. From what Moe had heard the new Dark One was Emma and that Rumplestiltskin was out cold in his shop, and Belle wasn’t leaving his side. When he had tried to visit the shop to see Belle and convince her to give up on the old monster, the door was locked tight.

But now Rumplestiltskin was back, and Belle was nowhere to be found. Well, Moe French would get to the bottom of it. Wherever the beast was, Belle couldn’t be far behind.

Bracing himself quickly, Moe straightened up and opened the pawn shop door. The bells that jingled overhead alerted the owner, and he limped into the front slowly, meeting Mr. French’s gaze.

“So it’s true. You really are back.” Moe made no attempt to hide the distain from his voice.

The man that had moved behind the counter rolled his eyes. “Yes, I suppose you’re quite disappointed that your daughter’s little plan didn’t work out too well, aren’t you? I regret to inform you, Mr. French, that I will still be demanding that you pay your ever growing debt by the end of the month. Actually, I regret nothing. This is long overdue.” His mouth quirked up into a sly grin. 

Moe, for all of his practicing that he had gone through in his head to prepare a speech for this very moment, was at a loss for words. He babbled a bit before finally getting out, “What are you playing at, Gold?!”

Gold sniggered but stayed behind the counter, leaning forward slightly, “No more games, Mr. French. You have until tomorrow to pay up.”

Moe stared at him without saying anything before finally striding over to the counter, pointing a chubby finger in Gold’s face, and yelling, “Look, Gold, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but you stay away from my daughter! I won’t allow you to put her through any more than you already have! I never should have let her run off to your castle! I would fight an ogre with my bare hands before I allowed that to happen again.” He backed up, never taking his eyes off Gold until he had made it to the door. For once, it seemed as though Gold was at a loss for words.

Collecting himself, the pawn shop owner replied, “I don’t know what kind of flowers you have in your little shop, Mr. French, but whatever you’re growing must be getting to your head. And your daughter’s as well. I suggest you both spend less time in your shop and more time trying to salvage together the money you owe me.”

Swinging open the door, face flushed, Moe replied, “You and me both know my daughter hasn’t been to my shop in ages. I assume she’s at your house or at the library now. Bug off, Gold!”

Gold winced as the door slammed shut. Letting out a deep sigh, he limped to the back room. He sat on the cot again, assuming the same position he had been in before he had been interrupted by the empty-headed Moe French. He was just as insane as his daughter. Feeling a wave of sickness as he often did lately, he grabbed the trash bin and placed it in front of him. As he waited for the sickening feeling to leave him, he twirled the golden ring on his finger. He didn’t remember when he had gotten it, but refused to acknowledge that he had not had it on his entire life. He had simply neglected to realize it. Mr. Gold hated to identify himself as forgetful. 

The sickness soon passed without another onslaught of puking, thankfully, and Mr. Gold stood up to make his way to the front of the shop again. It had been only yesterday that he had awoken from his… well… whatever it was. He would rather not think about his moment of weakness.

So Ms. French… was the librarian. Mr. Gold assumed that was what Mr. French had meant, as nobody just roamed around a library for the fun of it. With that, Gold finally realized what the young woman’s true intentions must have been; she had wanted the keys to the library. And she must have taken them while he was out. 

Thievery would not be tolerated, especially by a French. Gold would have to march down to the library and figured out just what business she had there. If he found that she really had stolen the keys, well, there was going to be problems. Mr. Gold didn’t take kindly to bandits. Not only that, but, if he really cared to admit it, he wanted to see the mysterious woman again. She had most certainly intrigued him, despite her delusional words and actions. 

So with his cane in hand, Mr. Gold strode out of the shop, locking the door behind him on his way out. It was a short walk to the library, but he was walking so briskly he was somehow nearly out of breath by the time that he reached the double doors. He placed his hand on the pillar to catch his breath. When had he become so weary? He had been just fine since he woke up yesterday. This was actually the first time he had left his shop, and he admittedly hadn’t gotten much sleep. Much of his time had been spent taking inventory, checking for lost or stolen items.

Finally composing himself, Gold walked up to the door and pulled it open, being mildly surprised when it swung open easily. The lobby area glowed with a warm, friendly light, and although it was still early in the morning, there was much chatter coming from the other room where he presumed all of the books were. He quietly crept up closer, hoping to hear some of what was being said before he was discovered.

“Regina! You had said you would help me to restore Rumple’s memory, we had a deal. I can help you get to Emma, but it would be much more helpful for everybody, especially Emma herself, if Rumple has his memories. Now, I found a potion that might work, but the ingredients may be hard to come by…” Her melodious, accented voice was heard around the corner, followed by the Mayor’s harsh retort.

“Without being able to go back to the vault, I couldn’t possibly get these. Like I said, the reason we needed to get here earlier than noon was because Henry was able to activate a location spell with the globe we found on Hook’s ship to find Emma, and it lead to my vault, but the doors are locked tight. All of my spell books are in there and this is the only place left I could think of that may have something useful” Her voice drifted off, and Gold was left thoroughly confused. Before he had much time to think of it, though, he heard another voice, one that he didn’t recognize, but sounded extremely aggravated and overbearing.

“Look, we need to find a way to get in there. Forget the Crocodile, we need to get into that vault before Emma gets out.” 

The librarian responded heatedly, saying, “We had a deal, and I plan for it to be upheld on both ends. I don’t care if you hate him or not, if you care at all about Emma you’ll help me.”

Gold had no idea what they were talking about, and made the decision to leave, as he was feeling nauseous again, before he heard a familiar voice. It was the schoolteacher.

“Belle. We can help you get Gold’s memories back as soon as we get Emma back. Let’s look at the big picture. Gold will be fine for as long as he has his cursed memories, but Emma… could be dangerous.” She seemed to be getting upset. Another unfamiliar voice spoke.

“Mary Margaret is right. We need to help Emma. We can get to Gold later.”

Well, Gold had had enough of this rubbish. He wouldn’t allow his name to be tossed around anymore without knowing what was going on. He limped slowly around the corner, and everyone looked up from a pile of books sitting on a high desk. The short librarian let out a little gasp, while a young man in a very strange outfit rolled his eyes. Gold figured he was the irritated voice from before.

“Miss French. Madam Mayor and Ms. Blanchard. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Another man Mr. Gold didn’t know stood up straighter, yet never leaving Mary Margaret’s side.

Belle spoke first, seeming to be choking back tears at the mere sight of him. “Mr. Gold! How-how are you? I-I was going to stop by and see you later. What…what can I do for you?”

Mr. Gold took a deep breath. “I was just wondering,” another deep breath, “just wondering how you got the keys to…”

He didn’t get to finish the rest. He felt extremely tired and exhausted and… sick. He grasped the wall for support and dropped his cane, seeing the librarian running frantically towards him between the spots swimming around his eyes. Her words were vague as he collapsed into her arms, but just distinguishable.

“Somebody, call the hospital! Rumple, please, don’t go. Stay with me. Please. I can’t lose you again.”


End file.
